Abstract
Cocaine is rapidly metabolized to major metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME), and minor metabolites, norcocaine, p-hydroxycocaine, m-hydroxycocaine, p-hydroxybenzoylecgonine (pOHBE), and m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine. This IRB-approved study examined cocaine and metabolite plasma concentrations in 18 healthy humans who provided written informed consent to receive low (75 mg/70 kg) and high (150 mg/70 kg) subcutaneous cocaine hydrochloride doses. Plasma specimens, collected prior to and up to 48 h after dosing, were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (2.5 ng/mL limits of quantification). Cocaine was detected within 5 min, with mean ± SE peak concentrations of 300.4 ± 24.6 ng/mL (low) and 639.1 ± 56.8 ng/mL (high) 30-40 min after dosing. BE and EME generally were first detected in plasma 5-15 min post-dose; 2-4 h after dosing, BE and EME reached mean maximum concentrations of 321.3 ± 18.4 (low) and 614.7 ± 46.0 ng/mL (high) and 47.4 ± 3.0 (low) and 124.4 ± 18.2 ng/mL (high), respectively. Times of last detection were BE > EME > cocaine. Minor metabolites were detected much less frequently for up to 32 h, with peak concentrations ≤ 18 ng/mL for all analytes except pOHBE (up to 57.7 ng/mL). These data improve our knowledge of the pharmacokinetics of cocaine and its major and minor metabolites in plasma following controlled subcutaneous cocaine administration.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 501-510 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of analytical toxicology |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Analytical Chemistry
- Environmental Chemistry
- Toxicology
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
- Chemical Health and Safety